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Ricardo Arona wants you to know that he can beat Machida
By Zach Arnold | September 8, 2009
But first he’s making his comeback fight this weekend. Meanwhile, Gegard Mousasi calls former Arona teammate Paulo Filho a little donkey.
Paul Daley comments on fighting at UFC 103 on 9/19.
Here are the details on UFC’s new UK TV deal.
With the news of Gina Carano filming a new movie, Steve Cofield says that it is time for women’s MMA to move forward without her. The problem with that theory is that it relies on Dana White promoting women’s MMA and he’s simply not interested in doing it. Someone asked the question about whether or not Gina really has movie star looks. I hope that’s a sarcastic remark.
Bjorn Rebney of Bellator says that if you don’t want to compete with UFC in the MMA business, you shouldn’t be promoting. He’s a good talker, but what he’s saying here is inaccurate. The goal should be not to compete with UFC on what they do. That said, when you promote MMA you have to understand that UFC is as paranoid as WWE and no matter if they try to compete with them or not, they will always look to take you out of your game.
The Hustle wrestling promotion announced that the theme for their 10/10 Tokyo, Ryogoku Kokugikan show would be called “Hustle Jihad.”
Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Hustle… Jihad?
Sounds like unmissable Hustle~!
The UFC UK Deal sounds decent. More exposure over there can’t hurt. It seems like they have really done a good job with how they have tried to conquer the UK. I don’t think it will ever be super popular over there, but it does give them a place to put on 3 shows a year for a European Audience.
Gina Carano is once again looking for a way to get out of fighting. I don’t blame her. She doesn’t seem to have that what it takes to become a full time fighter for a long career. If she can now get into movies I say more power to her. This will not benefit Strikefore, just like Cung Le has not benefited them. Unlike Rampage, I don’t think either Le or Carano will be back at all. Perhaps one fight at the most. It has always been in Gina’s bets interests to use her looks and moderate fighting skills as a way to push her other career avenues…
Bellator continues to say they have a TV deal, but have yet to announce who it is. It’s gotten to the point of annoying now. They said they would announce it within 12 days…. And that was over 2 weeks ago. They have also said they will reach 150 Million Homes…. Which means it is either mostly international or they are double counting, as even CBS or NBC doesn’t reach more then 115 Million. And I agree with Zach on this one. Not competing with the UFC is the smartest thing a promoter can do. Strikeforce was able to stay in business due to not being a threat to the UFC. As soon as they signed Fedor, they have become Enemy #1. If Bellator tries the same things, they will be in trouble.
And speaking of Bellator, I feel like they have really gotten a free pass from the MMA Media. The way they have treated their champions is outrageous. Not only has the 2nd season been delayed (no exact date has been set), but they have flat out said that if their champions want to compete in other organizations, they have to approve it… AND they will have to fight above their natural weight class. Are you kidding me? None of their champions have any business in a weight class above against anybody credible. Look at how Alvarez got whooped against Thompson as proof. What they are doing to their champions is garbage and really bad treatment. It needs to be vocalized more…
The other big piece of news is that Strikeforce is thinking about Fedor/Rogers for October 10th. If they decide to do this, it has to be on the of the dumbest moves I have seen of a promoter. To give that fight less then 5 weeks to sell tickets and promote it properly is nothing short of stupid. I understand why they are doing it, which is to try and avoid UFC Counter programming. However at some point you need to let your $1 Million + investment stand on his own two feet and see if he can sink or swim. The fact that they are basically running around scared sh!tless means they have little faith in Fedor’s drawing abilities. They should have thought about that before they spent all this money for him AND put a target on their backs from the UFC.
There was never a situation that Strikeforce wouldn’t have a target on its back unless it continued to run shows telecast on HDNet/Yahoo only. I doubt that would have been a better path to success either over the long term.
Bellator does get a free pass. No idea why. I’ve written about how the people running it have long histories of unethical practices. Managers have divulged how terrible the contract terms are with them. Its probably because no one cares and the shows for Season 1 weren’t too terrible to watch.
45 Huddle-
In that incredibly long post, you said that everything that everyone else does is bad and that what the UFC does is good. Is everyone who is not the UFC in the wrong?
45 has made it clear that he wants the UFC to dominate MMA single handedly, thus anyone who is competition is in opposition of that aim, and thus bad. So to answer for him, yes.
I think the “free pass” that Bellator gets is because they fly under the radar.
It is funny that the same people who were up in arms about Rampage doing the A-Team movie with UFC’s approval (which he needed, btw) think that Bellator having to approve fighters under contract to them fighting for another company is wrong.
Seriously 45, if that was UFC you’d be all for it. I know they’ve delayed their next season, but it most likely has to do with their TV contracts. I doubt that they are going to tell Eddie Alvarez he can’t fight again this year.
Agree’d with 45 Huddle – the Fedor vs Rogers fight, if it takes place on the 10th, will be an absolute joke. Affliction did almost nothing to promote thier fights, but at least they did almost nothing for more than 5 weeks.
They *must* be relying on a decent gate to subsidise using Fedor…with less than five weeks of promotion, how is that possible?
As for the issue of counter-programming…surely it will happen anyway?
The UFC might not be able or willing to put a live event together in that time, but whats to stop them chucking UFC 102 on Spike TV? They have enough pull with the network to make it happen.
According to Dave Meltzer and Michael Rome (not sure where the information came from), the UFC has a card already set up and waiting to be announced once Strikeforce announces their Fedor card. So no matter what Strikeforce will be going against live competition.
“I doubt that they are going to tell Eddie Alvarez he can’t fight again this year.”
They have flat out said their champions will have to compete in another weight class if they are going to find fights before season 2. There is a reason for weight classes, as Nick Thompson vs. Eddie Alvarez showed us. So by Bellator saying Alvarez can only fight in another weight class, they have basically said he can’t compete until 2010. That is 100% unacceptable.
Jonathan,
Is there anything about my post that you disagree with my opinion about? I didn’t write it saying UFC or bust. Look at it by topic…. Bellator putting their champions on hold in their own weight classes for 8+ months is absolutely unacceptable. Carano getting into movies is great for Carano (which I stated). It is bad for Strikeforce as they lose another star (something they are light on). And Strikeforce being scared of the UFC is comical and shows a real lack of faith in Fedor. If you can’t even have faith in your own product, what is the point of running cards?
“It is funny that the same people who were up in arms about Rampage doing the A-Team movie with UFC’s approval (which he needed, btw) think that Bellator having to approve fighters under contract to them fighting for another company is wrong.”
Two completely different things. Rampahe signed up for TUF knowing he had to fight Rashad Evans at the end of it in December. When that time came, he bailed out for a movie.
The Bellator Champions do NOT have the ability to fight somebody in their own weight class until 2010. How anybody can justify that is completely unknown to me. And even then, Bellator still hasn’t announced when their 2nd season will start. For all we know, it might not be until March…. And it’s not like every champion is going to fight at the first show either.
Plainly stated, Bellator is screwing over their champions big time.
On a side note, Monte Cox should have known better for Eddie Alvarez. He has been a long time manager and should have advised against his client signing such a bad contract. It’s one thing to sign such a strict contract with the UFC or K-1, as the athletes known in the next year or two the organization will still be around. To sign that sort of contract with an upstart company is just horrible.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Arona vs Mousasi
Gina is attractive, no doubt about it. But there’s attractive and then Hollywood attractive. Is she as beautiful as Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie? Definitely not. The same with Roger Huerta, he’s a good looking guy, but he’s never going to beat Brad Pitt or George Clooney out for any roles. I don’t see her doing much beyond “tough chick with fight scenes involved” roles. And plus, in dress size conscious Hollywood, will they tolerate a 150+ pound actress? Certainly she’s not going to get any romantic lead roles struggling in a size-zero community.
P.S., does the HUSTLE-jihad mean the return of Erotic Terrorism?
Where is this talk coming from that Bellator will only allow their champs to take interim fights in higher weight classes? Word on the street has Alvarez maybe fighting Katsunori Kikuno at DREAM 12, which wouldn’t be a jump for him.
Bellator’s BodogFightism knows no bounds
http://mmajunkie.com/news/16099/bellator-to-host-two-seasons-in-2010-expanding-to-live-shows-in-english-and-spanish.mma
“However, don’t expect the champions merely to sit on the sidelines. Rebney hopes to find suitable non-tournament fights, possibly outside the champs’ respective weight classes (and even in outside organizations, with Bellator’s approval), to keep them active while the challengers are determined.”
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=9502&zoneid=13
“Rebney said he was open to any promotion that offered “the right opportunity,” though he anticipated the champions – featherweight Joe Soto, lightweight Eddie Alvarez, welterweight Lyman Good, and middleweight Hector Lombard – would fight above their natural class if they moonlighted elsewhere.”
Seriously, Alvarez has been in DREAM.12 promotional material for a while now. 45 got caught up in his own web this time. Bellator has said that they are looking to put together “superfights” for their champs before they have challengers and that they are OK with them taking outside fights as long as they approve it.
I’m sure Alvarez fighting in DREAM they can just talk up how he is a Bellator champ and that will be fine.
“Gina Carano’s job is done. At least she thinks so.” Steve Cofield, ladies and gentlemen.
Any word on Mousasi not being able to fight Soku (shoulder injury in exhibition w/ Fedor)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Dan Henderson 2 is being talked about as the main event for UFC 105. If Evans/Rampage is postponed, I wouldn’t mind seeing this fight determine the next #1 Contender for the LHW Title.
Mike Swick vs. Matt Hughes is also being talked about if that fight falls through. I assume that fight will be happening no matter what by the end of 2009.
Frank Mir, Shane Carwin, & Tito Ortiz have all been critical of Fedor Emelianenko not signing with the UFC, and have said so publicly. Add Mirko Filipovic to that list…. I got this from BE (UFC 103 Conference Call):
“I like Fedor as a fighter, as a man, I don’t want to insult Fedor, but I don’t understand his attitude — I don’t know him well enough to say anymore, I don’t know if someone else controls him. I don’t know. I don’t know the situation. But I really don’t understand why he doesn’t want to enter the UFC. Definitely the UFC offered him the best possible deal, to pay him much more than Dream can offer or Strikeforce can offer, but he’s just refusing to go there. I don’t know why. I think he should take the challenge but why, i don’t know. I don’t think he’s afraid, but I think he wants to keep his perfect record, maybe he thinks the UFC is too tough. I think he should come. Why he’s not there, I don’t know.”
It seems like it’s not only the fans who think he is ducking top competition….. It’s the fighters too. I think that speaks volumes….
Ouch. Does anyone REALLY think that Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie are attractive?
@ Jeremy: Well they’re Hollywood attractive.
…and after careful consultation with the Mrs who is reading this over my shoulder we agree that neither of us would say no ;-P
@ Bob: I find this injury a little ‘convenient’…Mousasi has nothing to gain and everything to lose from a fluke KO or injury in the Super Hulk GP, what with Strikeforce having 2 events rumoured before the end of the year.
Wait a minute… if Dana White says he could beat Ricardo Arona, and Ricardo Arona says he could beat Machida, does that mean Dana White could beat Machida?
Carano is fat by Hollywood standards. Which is crazy, because she has a beautiful body. Most of the big hollywood actors are skinny themselves, which means when she is on screen with them she will look big.
I don’t really see her opposite Brad Pitt and Christian Bale though…more like Vinny Jones and Michael Jai White.
She won’t have to look pretty, because she won’t be in any leading roles in Hollywood blockbusters any time soon.
She’s just not the most charismatic of people. That said, I’m sure she’ll be able to make a decent living for the next few years as ‘Tough Chick #1’ in a load of B-Movies. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Like Brad says, the real problem is that Carano just isn’t very charismatic beyond being pretty and able to kick ass. There are much prettier girls in Hollywood, and the market for ass-kicking chicks on film ain’t that big when CG graphics can turn any chick into a supersoldier.
Being Cynthia Rothrock II means you don’t get hit in the face for real. I’m sure that plays into her decision. I’m not really interested either way.
I’m intruiged as to why Rogerio should be in a #1 contender fight in the UFC, even more so that it comes from a guy who slagged all his recent wins. Beating Dan Henderson could get him into contention, but hell if I think it earns him a fight with Machida.
I guess missing the last couple of UFCs completely might be clouding my opinions a little, but I really don’t care much about UFC 103: Gatekeepers Collide or the undercard for 104.
You’ve gotta love the internet. “I don’t think Angelina and Megan are that hot.” Yes, because you’re having sex with a new supermodel every night of the week, right? Please, you’d cut off your left foot with a hacksaw for one night with either of them.
Hehehe. Gina’s a beauty, A BEAUTY, but in a real girl kind of way. She’s kinda thick for a starlet, she’s got facial scars up close, and a heavy almost masculine brow that make her more realistic than hollywood IMO.
Although it is promising that she’s appears to be doing a movie with a bit of aspiration instead of the assembly line action turds that MMA actors always get into.
Plus she’s too pretty to be fighting anyway.
Life with a prosthetic limb for a night with Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie?
No fucking way. I wouldn’t give up a fingernail clipping.
Jeremy,
How about for Vanessa Hudgens?
Okay, maybe not, but you get my point.
Maybe it’s just me but I find women like Gina to be a lot more attractive than Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox. Jolie and Fox don’t do it for me at all. I don’t like the manufactured hollywood look I suppose.